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As al-Qaida grows, leaders remain a global threat

As al-Qaida grows, leaders remain a global threat

Photo by:

The Associated Press

A Jordanian military vehicle drives around the U.S. embassy in Amman, Jordan, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013, one of 19 American diplomatic posts across the Middle East and Africa ordered closed following terror threats. Far from being on the brink of breakdown, al-Qaida’s core leadership remains a potent threat _ and one that experts say has encouraged the terror network’s spread into more countries today than it was immediately after 9/11. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon)

Photo by:

The Associated Press

A policeman walks as he secures the Sanaa International Airport, in Yemen, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. The State Department on Tuesday ordered non-essential personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen to leave the country. The department said in a travel warning that it had ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel from Yemen "due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks" and said U.S. citizens in Yemen should leave immediately because of an "extremely high" security threat level. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

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WASHINGTON — Far from being on the brink of collapse, al-Qaida's core leadership remains a potent threat — and one that experts say has encouraged the terror network's spread into more countries today than it was operating in immediately after 9/11.

President Barack Obama, who ordered the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, has described al-Qaida's headquarters as "a shadow of its former self" and his spokesman Jay Carney has called it "severely diminished" and "decimated." The bravado, however, didn't match the Obama administration's action this week.